After 8.5 hours traveling yesterday, we really did not want to drive long distances today. So we decided to go to the nearest two National Monuments. We first went to Casa Grande National Monument near the intersection of I-10 and I-8. Casa Grande is an adobe structure built by the Hohokam Indians around 1350. It was made a national archeological site in 1891 and a national monument in 1908. The Hohokam Indians had learned to farm the desert in the area using seasonal and flash flooding to irrigate. The Hohokam had started gathering into larger settlements from 1200-1350 but then reverted to individual farms over the next hundred years for reasons unknown. The base of the walls is over 4 feet thick. It was two stories, which is unusual in early adobe structures. We explored the exhibits in the visitor center, watched the park film and collected our 63rd Passport Stamp. Then walked around the Casa Grande. Two of the portals on the second floor align with the summer and winter Solstice and another two align with the spring and fall equinoxes. In the late 1800s, there was a stage coach line that ran past the building and people carved the names into the adobe!
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| Entrance Sign |
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Casa Grande
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After Casa Grande, we drove up to Tonto National Monument on the shores of Roosevelt Lake. David had seen the lake from the air before but this was his first visit to the area. Tonto NM is cliff dwellings that were built around 1350. There are two sets of cliff dwellings. The trail to the upper cliff dwellings was closed due to a flash flood that took out the trail. The lower dwellings were open and we climbed the half-mile trail to the dwellings under a large overhang. Approximately 40 people lived in this set of structures. They are not sure why the Hohokam built these structures since they were quite a ways from the Salt River where their agricultural fields were located. The adobe and rock structures were well preserved and early archeologists found tools, pottery and woven cotton cloth. The Hohokam grew cotton and wove colorful cloth which the used for clothing and traded. We explored the exhibits in the visitor center, hiked up to the ruins, watched the park film and collected our 64th Passport Stamp. Then it was a 2.5 hour drive back to Tucson. Critter sighting: We saw a rather large Tarantula on the hike up.
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| Entrance Sign |
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| Cliff Dwellings |
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| Tarantula |
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| Leslie in the cliff dwellings |
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